Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Last week on my Facebook page I hosted a Pumpkin party and had many wonderful recipes delivered for pumpkin flavored treats.

I fell in love with this recipe for Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes from Citronlimette and knew I just had to give them a try.

I adapted the recipe a little bit and they came out wonderful. If you've ever been leary of making a cheesecake then this is the recipe for you.  It was extremely easy to make and they pretty much baked up just like making muffins or cupcakes.

I have already made them a couple of times and they are a hit around here.

New Look!

Well I thought it was time to join the big blogs and do away with all the unnecessary color scheme going on and went with all white; well MOSTLY all white, lol.  So please be honest and let me know what you think. Yea or Nay on the new look?

Harvest Apple Carrot Muffins

Last week I was in the mood to create some new muffin recipes.  I just love a good muffin in the morning but I don't have a lot of variety in my recipes.

It's always the same old blueberry, pumpkin, or chocolate chip muffins; not that those aren't yummy because they are, but I was in the mood for something that represented Fall and the flavors that are in abundance this time of year.

These muffins encompasses all the flavors of Fall to me.  They have apples, carrots, pineapple for sweetness and all the warm spices you would think of in a Fall treat.

Rice Krispy Pumpkins

Need a super easy, fast, and delicious treat for Halloween this year?  Try these Rice Krispy Pumpkin treats.

Perfect for your little one's classmates or for giving out to family and friends.

These take about 15 minutes to make a batch and the best thing is that you can make them any size ranging from bite size to baseball size and larger.

Twice Baked Potatoes

I know it seems like twice baked potatoes have some mysterious combination to the recipe due to how often you probably see them on the table, but they really are simple to make, they just take a little extra time.

I know I only make them a few times a year; holiday's mostly, and a few other time too. It's usually because I forget about them until it's too late to get them together in time for dinner.

You can change up the recipe to suit your likes too.  I have always added cheese and bacon but I sometimes change the rest of the ingredients to what I have on hand or what flavor combo I'm in the mood for.

Harvest Oat & Nut Pancakes

So I've decided to do a little experimenting in the kitchen and I've been in the mood for PANCAKES!

I love to make different flavored pancakes, don't you?

I can remember when we used to go to I HOP and I would order these Harvest grain and oat something or other pancakes and they were soooooo yummy.  I decided to try and duplicated these first.

I also tried something new with these pancakes and that was to use self-rising flour instead of all purpose flour with baking powder, etc.  They turned out great!  Nice and fluffy and pillow soft :)

Chicken Fajita Salad

I've been trying to make an assortment of lunches lately with the kids both being home most days; one's Independent Study the other's in college and getting ready for the Marines, and my husband works out of the house too.

So we eat a lot of lunches in as you can imagine and sandwiches just don't cut it every day.  AND we could all stand to eat a littler healthier once in awhile, right?

This is one of my favorite types of salad.  I LOVE the one they have at Chili's that is a Southwest Chicken Salad so I tried to recreate it as much as I could.

Mocha Toffee Ice Cream

A month or so ago I held a summer dessert/frozen treats party on my Facebook page.

Everyone brought delicious looking recipes to try but the one that stuck out the most was Coffee Toffee Ice Cream from Debi over at Life Currents.

I don't know if you know this or not but I'm kind of a coffee lover (shhhh) and I have always loved any type of coffee flavored ice cream so this was definitely going to be made in my kitchen!

I changed the recipe to suit my ice cream maker but I'm sure it tasted just like Debi's :)

Pumpkin Pie Cream Cheese Spread

Even though Fall hasn't officially started and it still gets hot around here most days, I'm so ready to start all my Fall baking.

I thought I'd start with a delicious breakfast treat.

I love pumpkin flavored foods and I thought Pumpkin Pie Cream Cheese sounded like a great idea yesterday after my trip to get fresh bagels.

I usually get plain bagels so that you can add whatever flavoring you like.

Some people just use butter (why? I have no clue) some use plain cream cheese, but my kids and I usually use cream cheese and my Homemade Strawberry Jam.

I thought with Fall around the corner and my obsession love for all things pumpkiny why not make some homemade spreads for bagels.

Chicken Pesto Pizza

I have a love of all things pesto.

A few weeks ago I made some homemade pesto and we used it for a few different recipes, my favorite being this Chicken Pesto Pizza.

This is a super easy recipe and as long as you have the ingredients in your fridge at all times you can easily throw one together at the last minute for lunch or dinner or even an after school snack.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

I've always had Pumpkin Pie Spice around the house but never really used it all that much.

I decided to make some of my own and start using it in some baked goods last week.  You'll be seeing the results real soon and they were delicious!  I made some pumpkin scones, chocolate pumpkin bundt cake, and some chocolate pumpkin muffins all using my new Pumpkin Pie spice.  YUM!

Here's what you need:

3 Tbs. cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
4 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. allspice

Place all spices in a bowl and stir until well combined.  Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Here's the handy printable - Pumpkin Pie Spice

Pesto di Basilico

Pesto di Basilico ~ the Italian pronunciation.

Basil Pesto ~ the boring American pronunciation, lol

No matter how you say it, Pesto is one of my very favorite pasta toppings and so easy to make at home.

All you need are the ingredients and a blender or food processor.

Oatmeal Caramel Apple Pie Bars

Um, hello???  Do I really need to explain how these babies came about?

Okay, if you insist....

Royce and I were up in the mountains all by ourselves for a relaxing weekend, enjoying the peace and quiet. Me being me wanted to do some baking because, well, duh, there wasn't anyone to take care of and who needs to relax anyway!

So into the cupboards I went and this is what I found.....

A bag of oatmeal cookie mix, 1 apple, individual caramel cups for apples, and I always keep butter flavored shortening on hand in case I forget the real butter and need to do some emergency baking.

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

This Mother's Day we had a backyard barbecue at my brothers house and  my cousin brought this amazing salad.

I have seen orzo salads before but had never tried one.  I usually use orzo in hot dishes.

I got the recipe as soon as I could and I've been waiting to make it ever since because I knew I'd need a crowd to make it for.  I finally got the opportunity at my daughters birthday last weekend.

I don't believe there is such a thing as too many salads or side dishes one can know how to make, so I'm always on the lookout for new recipes.  I am so glad I got a hold of this one because it's a keeper!